Gauges - Fair Price

[srock]

I have some spare parts I have been sitting on, and I need some help pricing these gauges. They are from a 2009 230 with 240 hours and are in great condition. What should I be asking?

[srock]

I just checked on ChatGPT and was surprised that it said to ask for $1,500 and expect to get $1,200 to $1,500. That seems high. I have a gateway for a different set of gauges...I wonder what that may be worth.

[SilentSeven]

Kinda hard to figure this out, huh? Can you assure the gauges all work?

I'd say the value of working gauges is down somewhat as it's now clearer non-working gauges can be repaired. Previously, it was thought the only option was to replace a bad gauge and many to most gauge styles were NLA thus increasing the value. If it was me pricing them, I'd likely ask $80 to $100 each for a small gauge and $150 to $175 for large gauge. I'd offer a discount if they purchased the entire set and maybe ask $600?

I think it's kind of the same story for gateways. Prior thinking was that gateway failure was the same gauge failure but now it's more clear that gateways fail less frequently than gauges. And gateways have versions and it's not clear to me if you can use gateway version X to replace failed gateway version Y. When I purchased my back up gateway, I made sure it was the same version as was installed in my boat. Sooo...I think you have to find a pretty specific buyer for the gateway and that might take some time. You could troll for a high price but I'd likely ask $400 ish. I purchased my backup gateway for like $200.

[FMSki 'n Surf]

What gateway do you have?
I paid $50 for new fuel gauges, in black, from Great lakes skipper. But my buddy's 196 now has 1 black gauge, rest are white So interested in the lot.

[srock]

Thanks for the response.

My original thought was 750 on the gauges; they are basically new, especially for anyone looking for a stock look without the issue of chasing repairs.

Gateways, on the other hand, are nonexistent. I thought the value would be much greater. Having been through the process, it is certainly easier to replace the gateway than to do a gauge conversion. On my 2009 230, the gauge change was not plug-and-play, and diagnosing the issues took time. Perhaps if you do it all the time, it's much easier. I had to add water and oil pressure sensors to the block and additional wiring.

[srock]

This is gateway
for the gauges. The separate gateway I have is a different set of gauges.

[srock]

Additional photos

[SilentSeven]

But my buddy's 196 now has 1 black gauge, rest are white So interested in the lot

It may be possible to open the gauge and swap faces especially if it's not one of large main gauges. That is...if you still have the broken white gauge. Now what might still be different is the night illumination. I know my white 2004 year gauges have orange illumination and I think I've seen other gauges with blue illumination. Pretty sure the illumination is via surface mounted LEDs and those would be difficult if not impossible to swap. Maybe TechBeer has some insight on gauge face swapping...?

[SilentSeven]

...they are basically new....

This may not really be true. I recently purchased a new ballast gauge for my boat from Nautique Parts. They are OOS of the factory matching gauge so I had to purchase a newer style. The mfg date on the replacement gauge was 2009 so it's really 'new old stock'. My guess is that Faria stopped making gauges years ago - they just ran the mfg line long enough to generate a cache of replacement stock and it's all been sitting on shelf since then. It's likely more accurate to say that are 'low usage'. See if your gauges have a mfg date sticker on them like mine did. And if the gauges fail due to capacitors drying out, that may be more of time based failure than a hours used failure?

[TechBeer]

What they are worth is what someone is willing pay -> quote from my B school marketing class. New I think the small gauges were ~$70 when they were available, not sure on the large ones, probably over a $100. IMO, the value is really the visual asthetics, i.e. clear lens, no cracks, no scratches on the face, etc. Since we know that the electronics will eventually fail anyways. The failure mode is mostly time but also environment, if the boat is outside in the rain a lot the gauges will fail faster.

The electrical design from the original gateway boat (~2003) through the last (~2009) is identical. Also the plastic housing is identical. So yes, you could take the guts of one gauge and put them in another from a different year. Not sure why you would do this vs. just repairing the ones you have. I guess if you had a 2006 boat but really liked the more modern look of a 2008 you could swap in those gauges. But functionally they are no more reliable, same design.

To respond to srock question directly if someone had a 2007 boat (for example) and the gauges were really beat up then to restore the aesthetics those gauges could be worth a decent amount of money. Like replacing the chrome trim on a classic car. But those 2009 gauges are now 17 years old. If they have never been taken apart and refurbished then they will fail eventually. But it might buy you a few years.

[TechBeer]

A little more in response to SilentSeven comments. The ballast gauges are a TOTALLY different internal design to the dashboard gauges. The ballast gauges are simple voltage controlled analog gauges. They are not driven by the Faria gateway or the Faria serial bus. There are no capacitors in the ballast gauges and I don't "think" they use stepper motors, although I have not opened one up. I believe it's the old style magnetic deflection based on voltage, way more reliable IMO.

The dashboard gauges have a microcontroller that drives the stepper motor that moves the needle. The larger gauges actually have 2 microcontrollers, one to drive the stepper motor and another to talk to the LCD panel. Ticking time bomb.......